9 things you didn’t know about losing weight

Know that belly you’re aching to get rid of? We can help you shift it faster. And no, this won’t involve any fad diets or made-up gym moves. Just science. A lot of strange science. We can’t promise it won’t be weird, but we can promise it’ll get the digits tumbling on your scales.

If you want to lose weight, then you need to read this.

1. You should sleep more to lose weight

Throw away your alarm clock. Cancel your wake-up call. Evict your rooster. Whatever. Just make sure you sleep in. Why? A study by the Associated Professional Sleep Societies found you’ll lose three times more fat while kipping than sitting in front of the gogglebox. That’s because your brain (which only comprises of 2% of your total weight) uses 20% of your body’s energy. And when you enter REM sleep your grey matter works harder than normal, thus burning more calories.

And here’s the final nail in your 6AM run’s coffin: getting up early will make you hungry. Seriously hungry. As a study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinoloy and Metabolism found, sleeping less than six hours depresses your brain’s supply of leptin (the hormone that makes you feel full), while turning on your tap of ghrelin, your ‘hunger hormone’ – that’s a cocktail for an unwarranted midnight snack. Our verdict: put cravings to bed and supercharge your weight loss with a guilt-free duvet day.

2. You should workout less to shed more weight

Less? Yes, you heard us. Research printed in the American Journal of Physiology found men who hit the gym 30 minutes each day will burn 100% more blubber over a period of 13 weeks than those who work out at the same intensity for an hour. Why? Scientists found sticking to shorter sessions makes you more motivated to give your all rather than aimlessly plodding on the treadmill.

- Put your right hand behind your head, elbow flared out, and the other on the floor in front of you for balance.

- Contract your obliques to bring your right leg and elbow together, then slowly lower. Perform all your reps on one side before swapping.

3. You can’t target your weight loss

So stop doing all those crunches. If you truly want to shift your belly fat then you’ve got to burn all over. Why? Your 15 sets of sit-ups require fuel (stored as fat), which your muscles will take from anywhere on your body – not just from your midriff. That’s right, spot reduction is a myth.

If you truly want to lose weight the fast way then ditch isolation moves like bicep curls and opt for compound exercises like burpees that target several muscle groups at once. That way you’ll use more energy, force your body to break down your fat and remove your flabby midriff and moobs.

(Related video: 25 burpee variations every man needs in their next workout)

4. Changing your metabolism is easy

You know that guy in the office? The skinny one who gets away with continuously chomping Chomps? He’s got genetically high metabolism. And you can rev yours even higher.

Yup, even if you’re a beginner, completing just three small weight sessions a week (like our 20-minute lounge-bound fat-stripping circuit) will double the calories you burn while at rest, according to the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

So go on, what’s more important than hitting the gym right now to ignite your body’s fat-burning furnace? Actually, reading the rest of this article definitely is. As you were.

5. Writing can help you lose weight

But not just any writing. Jotting a list of reasons to skip the gym in favour of a Hula Hoop binge won’t help. However, according to a study published in the journal Psychological Science, dedicating a few minutes per day to listing your goals (a better physique/relationship/Pokémon Go level) will make you feel more in control of your life and more determined to lose weight.

6. Chocolate can trim your waistline

If there is a god he’s probably one of the researchers from the University of L'Aquila that showed 100g-200g of chocolate improves your insulin sensitivity. And why’s that good for fat loss? Well, the better your insulin sensitivity, the more likely your body will use the energy found in your food, rather than storing it as fat.

However, only dark chocolate bars (the ones high in cocoa) contain the chemicals that cause this effect. Lesson learned: satisfy your lunchtime sweet tooth with a Bournville rather than a Mars bar for your fast-track ticket to sub-10% body fat.

7. Eating fat won’t make you fat

We finally managed to throw out the bowlcuts, The Spice Girls and Macaulay Culkin’s career, but there’s still one thing from the nineties that stuck: fat. People are still terrified of it. For no reason.

Here’s the truth: healthy fats in foods such as salmon are key to prevent blood clotting and regulating your heart rhythm. No, really. The Nutrition Journal study that found adding avocado to your lunch box reduces your desire to snack over the next five hours by 28%.

In fact, the demonisation of fat is adding to your chub. As a founding member of the Public Health Collaboration Dr Aseem Malhotra says, eating less fat has helped cause the UK’s current obesity crisis. Hate to say we already warned you about it, but, well, we 100% definitely did.

8. Losing weight boosts your brainpower

Which, as an already sharp MH man, you’ll know is a pretty big achievement. But it’s true, going down a notch on your belt will increase your cerebral horsepower; a new study from the University of Manitoba found overweight people have less of the smarter stuff in their noggin than slimmer subjects.

Why? Losing weight strengthens your brain’s ‘salience network’ ­­— the system that controls willpower, motivation and decision making — literally increasing your brain matter. In other words, decide to pick up a dumbbell today and you’ll instantly have the mental strength to undergo a full fat-burning body transformation.

9. You’ll see more of your penis

You read that right. Research published in Psychology and Neuroscience found that one in three men are so overweight that their chub blocks the view of their knackers. Which would be a scarier stat if it wasn’t for the same study’s silver lining: “for every 30-50lbs of weight loss you will regain an inch of visible penis” (we’re presuming they mean your own).

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